By Shahnaz Mahmud

A screenwriter on the rise. A long forgotten script. A producer who unearthed it and held onto the dream of making it for years. A racing production during Ramadan. The story of how Beirut finally made it to the big screen has just as many twists and turns as its espionage plot.  

 The 2018 Tony Gilroy–penned political thriller centers on Mason Skiles played by Jon Hamm, a U.S. diplomat who left Lebanon in the 1970s after tragedy struck. Ten years later, the CIA sends Skiles back to a war-torn Beirut, and the mission’s success depends solely on him. Hamm is forceful as a broken man doing his best just to get through the day.

Beirut earns its place among good spy thrillers by immediately wrapping you up into the chaos of the spy world. There’s something about it, a coolness reminiscent of some of the fantastic films of the 1960s. Bullitt or The Thomas Crown Affair anyone? Hamm steps up as a leading man and exudes charisma in Beirut, which is essential as the intricate plot tangles around to see his character actually influence the actions of both the terrorists and the government representatives involved. No matter how far it goes, you willingly go along with him as the plot thickens. 

While it is a fictional story, Gilroy’s astute script was grounded in extensive research. Part of the inspiration came from the real-life kidnapping of CIA Station Chief William Buckley in 1984. 

Plot twists and turns aside, though, Beirut marks a rare moment in the film industry — when a screenplay finally gets its due nearly three decades later. Gilroy first wrote it back in 1991 when he was a young upstart, not the prolific writer-director he is now whose 30-plus-year career includes Michael Clayton, most of The Bourne franchise, Duplicity, The Devil’s Advocate, Proof of Life, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and now Andor.

When his original script for Beirut (then known as High Wire Act) made the studio rounds, it was red hot. Gilroy penned it for Interscope Films, a major studio for whom he wrote The Cutting Edge, a comedy-romance set in the world of ice skating. In fact, High Wire Act sprang from daily discussions Gilroy was having with producer Robert Cort on the set of The Cutting Edge. Cort had worked for the CIA, and both would talk about news of the day and politics, and books they were reading — mainly From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas L. Friedman — during those long production hours. 

While many were interested in High Wire Act in the early ’90s, the geopolitics were considered too controversial, and in the end, the film was too expensive to make. So, the script sat in a drawer for nearly a decade. Gilroy credits the buzz around High Wire Act with helping to elevate his career but he moved on never looking back. 

Enter Michael Weber — a producer who works for Radar Pictures, which is owned by American media mogul Ted Field. Field also owns Interscope Communications (Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre). It is, of course, the same studio that Gilroy worked for in the early ‘90s, which still owned his script.

Kim’s Video premiere at 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Becca Haydu

By Peter Jones

What goes around comes around, or at least rewinds back to the beginning.

It is with some irony that one of the highlights of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival is a documentary celebrating a virtually extinct media that many once considered a threat to the big screen. On the other hand, Kim’s Video — in both style and substance — is ultimately a celebration of the movies and everything a film festival would hope to represent. Kim’s Video premiered January 29 at the Ray Theatre.

For years, the business named in this film’s title was the ultimate go-to for New York film lovers. The mecca for committed cinephiles was once a VHS treasure trove boasting everything from Fellini and Bergman to Debbie Does Dallas, as well as blatantly pirated editions of esoterica that would never have been otherwise available on home video. 

But then, the collection disappeared when Korean-American owner Youngman Kim closed shop and made an unusual deal that transported the entire collection — more than 55,000 titles — to a small Sicilian village that promised to be a loving curator. But in a turn of true-life events that could have been written for the screen, nothing went as planned or promised.

Directors David Redmon and Ashley Sabin, film aficionados of the first order, treat their subject as a mystery before switching to the action-packed heist genre for their documentary’s final reel. Part of the deal with Kim was that the transported collection would still be available to Kim’s Video members, as if lower Manhattan’s movie fans could take a crosstown bus to Italy. 

When the filmmakers travel to the small village of Salemi to make good on an empty promise, they uncover a dusty warehouse of videos — not to mention a labyrinth chock-full of stock characters, self-serving politicians, and the mafia.

This is Sicily, after all, and this is a movie about movie lovers. Salemi, as it turns out, is a bullet’s flight from where early scenes in The Godfather took place.

Along the way, clips of everything from Paris, Texas to Night of the Living Dead help tell a story, whose nonfiction Hollywood ending is one even film snobs can appreciate.

In the Q&A after the screening, Redmon said he understands why many in Salemi were hesitant to get onboard with his offbeat investigative documentary.

“A stranger comes to town who wants to rent a movie — that just seems a bit bizarre,” he said. “… I went to Salemi on my own without a translator, without a smartphone. What you see happened is only half of what happened.”

For Kim’s part, he told the audience that Kim’s Video is also an immigrant’s story of economic survival in what was then a dangerous area of lower Manhattan.

“A 21-year-old Asian man didn’t have a choice, but I wasn’t afraid to start there and [accept the] challenge in the East Village,” Kim said, receiving enthusiastic applause.

Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck were inspired to make “Sugar” after reading about the rising number of Dominican athletes who go to the U.S. to play baseball.

By Lucy Spicer

Spring has sprung, the birds are singing, and every new bloom is a reminder to celebrate the good things that come around every year. For indie-film lovers, that includes commemorating the dates when some of our favorite Sundance-supported titles received wide releases.

We’ve pulled an intriguing variety of films with April birthdays for the list below. This month’s offerings feature a 1970s summer coming-of-age story, a darkly funny Christmastime drug deal gone wrong, a crime ring led by high school overachievers, a Dominican baseball player at spring training in the U.S., and a nonfiction investigation into a mysterious death in the Arizona desert.

The Inkwell (1994) — It’s the summer of 1976: The U.S. is preparing to celebrate its bicentennial, and 16-year-old Drew (Larenz Tate) is still reeling from having accidentally set fire to his family’s garage. Drew’s parents, Kenny (Joe Morton) and Brenda (Suzzanne Douglas), worry about their shy son’s behavior, but a trip to see some estranged wealthy relatives on Martha’s Vineyard provides plenty of distractions. For one, Kenny, a former Black Panther, is constantly at odds with Drew’s staunchly Republican aunt and uncle. Meanwhile, Drew awkwardly attempts to make friends and pursue the elusive Lauren (Jada Pinkett Smith). The Inkwell, named after the moniker for the Martha’s Vineyard Black beach community, is director Matty Rich’s (Straight of out Brooklyn) second feature. Check here for viewing options.

Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

Go (1999) — Soap actors Adam (Scott Wolf) and Zack (Jay Mohr) are in the market for some ecstasy, but their usual hookup, Simon (Desmond Askew), is off on a Las Vegas romp. Hoping to collect enough cash to stave off eviction, Simon’s teenage co-worker Ronna (Sarah Polley) offers her assistance. But nothing is quite as it seems in director Doug Liman’s high-energy third feature. Part dark comedy, part crime film, part road trip adventure, Go features an ensemble cast (including Taye Diggs, Katie Holmes, Timothy Olyphant, William Fichtner, and Jane Krakowski, among others) that comes together to tell a multi-POV story full of uproarious twists and turns. Check here for viewing options.

Better Luck Tomorrow (2003) — On the surface, Ben Manibag (Parry Shen) fulfills the stereotype of the overachieving Asian American suburban high schooler: His grades are good, he’s on the basketball team, and he has plans to attend an Ivy League college. What’s a little petty crime with his friends Virgil (Jason Tobin) and Han (Sung Kang in the first appearance of his Fast & Furious franchise character) to blow off some steam? But pe

Mexico City, April 2nd, 2024 – Cinépolis, the leading theatrical exhibition company in Mexico and Latin America, and the Sundance Institute, the nonprofit organization behind the world-famous Sundance Film Festival whose year-round work is dedicated to the discovery and development of independent artists and audiences, announced the 12 feature films and the Mexican short film program that will comprise the inaugural program of the Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024. The showcase will take place from April 25th to 28th at Cinépolis Diana and Cinépolis VIP Miyana, along with projections at Cinépolis VIP Perisur, Cinépolis VIP Mitikah and Cinépolis VIP Satélite. The Festival’s first edition in Mexico City will bring together audiences who will be a part of Sundance’s legacy and Cinépolis’s mission of empowering new stories and innovative independent artists.

Among the feature films that will be presented during Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 are In The Summers, the winner of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Dramatic Competition, and Daughters, the winner of the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary and Festival Favorite Award. Other films that will be presented during the festival include the crowd-pleasers Your Monster and Love Lies Bleeding. There will also be a special screening of the 2024 Oscar winner for Best Documentary Feature: 20 Days in Mariupol. The opening night film will be the documentary FRIDA, directed by Carla Gutiérrez, who was awarded the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award for U.S. Documentary. 

A program of Mexican short films that have been presented over the years at Sundance Film Festival has been curated by the Sundance Programming team and will be showcased during the festival. The program is comprised of six titles, including Al Motociclista no le Cabe la Felicidad en su Traje (Fiction), La Odisea Espeleológica de Sócrates (Animation), Chica de Fábrica (Drama), among others. 

“The selection of feature films we’ve invited to this first Sundance Film Festival CDMX is a bold, exciting group of discoveries from the Sundance Film Festival,” commented Eugene Hernandez, Director, Sundance Film Festival and Public Programming. “We know that Mexico City audiences will be moved, inspired, and entertained by the originality and creativity coming from a visionary group of new filmmakers. We can’t wait to gather together in Cinepolis cinemas next month to celebrate independent cinema – we hope to see you there!”

“The Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 goes beyond a showcase of films; it is a gathering point for creativity, innovation, and exploration in the world of independent cinema,” commented Alejandro Ramírez, Cinépolis CEO. “We are thrilled to bring this celebration of cinema to Mexico City and to provide a platform for filmmakers and audiences to engage in meaningful conversations about the power of film to inspire, educate, and transform.”

This program is set to be a can’t-miss event for ci

2023 Sundance Film Festival documentary “Indigo Girls: It’s Only Life After All” brings the beloved musical duo to the big screen this April.

By Lucy Spicer

Have you heard? Sundance Institute recently announced the dates of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. We’re excited to do it all over again, but we’ve got plenty of new Sundance-supported releases to tide us over in the meantime. 

With four Festival documentaries reaching wider audiences this month, nonfiction fans in particular have a lot to look forward to. From the 2023 Festival come documentaries about folk rock duo Indigo Girls and a quest for a lost video rental archive. Nonfiction offerings from the 2024 Fest include an episodic series about the Synanon cult and a much-anticipated counterpart to the award-winning Boys State doc from 2020. Rounding out the list are two fun fiction features also from the 2024 Festival — one about human foibles in quarantine and another about sasquatch foibles in the wilderness.

The Synanon Fix — Sundance Film Festival veteran Rory Kennedy (Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, Downfall: The Case Against Boeing) returned to the 2024 Festival with an episodic series that documents the rise and fall of Synanon from the point of view of individuals who had been involved in the movement. Founded in 1958 as a radical, community-focused drug rehabilitation center, Synanon would gradually become a religious cult in the hands of charismatic founder Charles “Chuck” Dederich. Previously unseen archival footage and candid interviews with former Synanon members come together to demonstrate how people with the best of intentions can be isolated onto a violent path. Making its broadcast premiere on HBO April 1.

Girls State — In 2020, filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss took home the U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for their film Boys State. The Emmy Award–winning doc chronicled a weeklong Boys State session in Texas, where thousands of teenage boys came together to participate in a government simulation exercise. McBaine and Moss brought an eagerly awaited counterpart film to the 2024 Festival with Girls State. Focusing on the teenage participants at a Girls State session in Missouri, the documentary follows the girls as they run for office, preside over a court case, and discover the differences between their own program and the Missouri Boys State session that is taking place simultaneously. Streaming on Apple TV+ April 5.

Kim’s Video — In 1987, Yongman Kim started running a video and music rental business out of his dry-cleaning storefront in New York City. For 20 years, Kim’s Video and Music was the place to go to rent rare films. In 2008, Kim closed the business and gave his video collection away to a small town in Italy to be archived. The collection disappeared from view. In a 2023 Sundance Film Festival documentary that plays like a heist film, co-directors David Redmon and Ashley Sabin seek to track down and li